I was in the midst of a full rear wheel slide when I experienced a moment of exquisite clarity: I was no longer in control of my motorcycle, and I was going to slide off the edge of the road. There was no thunderbolt of realization, no eureka moment, no panic and no pounding in the veins. It was the silence and the calm of the inevitable.
The day began like many Saturdays before it. A meeting of local riders for beverages and chit chat at a nearby coffee shop turned launch pad for many a ride. The plan was a group ride up the Aufderheide and then Hwy 242 with a stop in Sisters, OR before looping back home. Around 300 miles in all.
The Aufderheide Memorial Highway is 50 miles of twisty pavement in the heart of the Oregon Cascades. As such, it’s popular with motorcyclists and other folks with a need for scenic twisties. Our group stopped for gas in Oakridge, then backtracked a few miles to Westfir and the turn-off that signals the beginning of the Aufderheide.
The group naturally subdivided itself by preferred pace and/or skill level: the fast, intermediate, and relaxed groups. I’m certainly no expert, but I’m no slouch in a corner either, so I ended up in the intermediate group. I caught up to Ducatichick, who’s an excellent and experienced rider, and her pace just happened to be perfect for me: not too fast to outride my abilities, but fast enough to be exciting and educational. Imagine 30 miles of blissful curves following someone who knows how to pick a good line. It was outstanding.
We all agreed to meet up top at the summit to regroup before the descent. Again, we departed in much the same order as before. Descending corners still cause me some trouble with my confidence, and the northern half of the Aufderheide has tighter corners. Ducatichick soon pulled away and out of sight, so I was essentially riding by myself. There was no way I was going to catch up to her either, so I tried to focus on my lines and keep a pace that would challenge me.
Everything was going well until I came to a fairly tight blind right hand corner. As I was accelerating out of the corner and into a very short straight, I immediately saw that the next corner was not just a tight left hand corner, but a bridge, and it was coming up much too quickly for comfort. The bike was already straightened up by this point, so I applied the front and rear brakes. Almost immediately the bike began to slide in a disconcerting diagonal direction, as if I were sliding across ice and propelled by inertia.
This is when I had my moment of clarity. Time turned very slow indeed as I looked away from the bridge and its painful-looking concrete sides and the yellow and black hazard sign announcing said bridge to the side of the road and its 6 inch drop-off at the edge of the pavement and the ditch running along side.
Continuing to hold the rear brake down was not so much a conscious decision as an unconscious one. My current course had a clear end point (the side of the road) and the bike was upright and likely to remain that way until I reached it. The alternatives were the bridge and the ground. Still, my decision to ride the slide out was completely unconscious. I believe the only thought I had time to think was, “Ahh, well, I’m going off the side of the road, but at least I’m not hitting the bridge.”
I did indeed slide right off the edge of that 6 inch drop. Somehow, I kept the bike upright. And somehow, the bike came to rest perched on the divide between the pavement edge and the ditch. Picture your bike on a sidewalk with its wheels close to the edge of the curb. Now picture your bike sliding off the edge and ending up with its wheels down in the gutter and the sides of the tires resting up against the curb. That’s a bit like how I ended up. I have no idea why I didn’t pitch over into the ditch, though I do remember trying to lean to the left because I didn’t want to tip over to the right.
Once the bike came to a stop, I popped open my visor and caught a whiff of burning rubber, so that confirmed my wheel lock-up theory. I’m almost certain it was the rear wheel, since the other folks mentioned that if I had locked up my front I would have known it the hard way.
The next problem was trying to get the bike out. I had nothing but air under my right footpeg so dismounting that way was out of the question. But help was on the way, because I knew I had three riders from our group behind me. Sure enough, after a minute or so, Steve passed by, saw me, and pulled off to check things out. He later told me that he thought I had simply parked by the side of the road until he realized that my tires were hidden up to their axles by the pavement’s edge! I think he was more agitated than I was. All I wanted to do was get the bike out!
Rick and FreeRadical arrived at the scene as I was trying to ride the bike up the edge. After stalling out a few times it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen. Then Rick had the brilliant idea of just lifting the bike up and over, which the three of them did in short order. Way to go, guys! 
Not a scratch on the bike and not a scratch on me. I was very, very lucky.
Mistake #1 was over-riding my sight line. After the blind right hander, I should not have accelerated as much as I did coming out of the corner. This left me in bad shape for the blind left turn coming up next, which directly led to mistake #2, applying too much rear brake.
The kicker here is that I don’t feel like I applied the brakes any harder than I have thousands of times before. Maybe my memory of the incident is faulty. I definitely need an emergency braking refresher, though, since I haven’t had a practice session after putting on the new tires.
Something that just occurred to me is that I was riding in a different rhythm than I typically do when I’m by myself. Usually, I don’t accelerate very hard out of corners, so I can rely on engine braking and just a touch of rear brake to slow me down in time for the next one. This time, I was riding more aggressively out of the corners, which requires that much more braking, which just happens to be the skill that doesn’t get much of a workout during my solo rides. This certainly seems plausible. If so, put me down as needing to practice more transition braking.
The rest of the ride was fun and largely uneventful, as a good ride should be. 325 miles by the odometer set a new personal daily best for me! And I even took some pictures!
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! Glad to hear that you are alright. Last May, my bike left me sitting in the middle of the road after running into a bunch of gravel I’m a corner left over from winter. Not being in control is a terrible feeling. No injuries except to my pride (and the valve cover). Picked the bike up and took off.
Well saved! If/when it happens to me I’ll remember to think ‘What did Bolty do?’.
In fact I might put those words on a sticker inside my windscreen!
Great story! It’s pretty amazing to hear that you didn’t even scratch your bike after that.
One question — does your SV have ABS?
Glad to know that you are safe!
Balisada
Whoa! I’m really glad to hear that you walked away from that unscathed! You are indeed a lucky girl. ::knocks wood::
Sounds like you also walked away with some knowledge in your back pocket, too. Good for you. IMO its crucial to dissect what you think went wrong and to grow from it. That whole “Fool me once, fool me twice…” type of thinking.
And lastly, i’m totally jealous of the scenery in your riding backyard!!!!!
Wow! Glad you are OK, that is scary!
@waz: That sticker probably ought to read “Don’t be a fool like bolty and lock the rear!”
@thomas: Nope, I do not have the ABS version of the SV650. ABS probably would have prevented this incident, but it also would have masked the fact that my braking skills are not up to par.
Thanks all for your kind wishes. I feel very fortunate, and certainly a little wiser!
Any time a moment of clarity like yours occurs, and the result is no damage and no injury, then I would at least call it a partial success. My recent moment like that didn’t end up quite so favorable. Glad there was not a worse result for you.
Another learning moment handled successfully.
Glad you were ok!
Wow. Glad you’re okay! Funny that you should mention “focus”, I just wrote about that. Unfortunately for me, I’ve witnessed far too many accidents and it sure sounds like you ad a very close call. Of the accidents that I’ve been around, the first mistake that people say they made was the one we’ve all made – target fixation. Did you happen to fixate on the place you went off of the road instead of looking through the corner?
If I may offer a tidbit. Your experience illustrates the lack of directional control when the rear tire’s sliding. For years it was pounded into a rider’s head to hold the rear brake down to avoid a highside. Unfortunately, that’s not good advice. The braking distance becomes longer. There is no chance to countersteer the bike towards a safe path. A rider can still high side, or even low side, when the speed of the bike is reduced and the weight distribution changes.
Better to release the brake as soon as it is realized that a tire is sliding. Your companions were correct. A front wheel skid would have put the bike down quite quickly. It is likely it was the rear tire sliding. As you saw, a bike won’t always slide in good alignment. The rear tire will go to one side or the other. At higher speeds, the bike will often fishtail. Been there on a high speed pursuit on wet roads as a motor and had to wait for the rear tire to come back under the bike before I could safely let off.
Letting off and reapplying as soon as a rider notices a skid will prevent the rear tire from getting too far out from under the center of the bike. The chances of a high side are a lot less this way. It also allows the rider to regain steering control. I wasn’t there, of course, but it’s possible you could have made the slight course correction required if the tire hadn’t been sliding. Again, it’s only conjecture as it was you on the bike and not me.
I commend you for not giving into panic. And for being honest enough to share the experience. As well as for learning what you can from it and keeping on with riding!
You’re still a great example for other riders!
I don’t think I can say anything that hasn’t been said about the “learning experience.” Glad you’re okay, of course! But I do want to say that I thought I was the luckiest newbie moto rider with where I live, just south of San Francisco. We have the most amazing roads in our backyard, incredible scenery, etc. And every time I turn left off 92w on to Skyline Blvd., and start to break through the fog and lean into the first twists, the sun dripping through the redwoods, I think, “oh hell yeah.” Well with your photos, I have to say Wow! Amazing scenery you have there. Those mountains blow our hills away. I need to find an excuse to get up there! Great posts. Thanks.
Here’s a link to my entry on my closest call so far: http://www.davidsorrell.com/davidsorrell/a_sunny_corner/Entries/2009/7/26_moto_changes.html
WOW! Glad you are OK.
An excellent account of your experience. It made me nervous reading it.
When I came to this phrase, “…and keep a pace that would challenge me.” I realized that I never do that. At least not in pace and turns. If I challenge anything it may be in winter weather but that’s a different kettle of fish.
Had I been on the ride I would have been in the back of the relaxed group. And probably nowhere it sight because I would have been wandering around some rock pile taking pictures. Would have caught up to the group the following week….
Glad things worked out for you and thanks for providing a vicarious experience so I don’t have to push riding myself!
Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks
Even though this happened a while ago I like to offer a couple of tidbits from my years of riding.
If you want to prevent rear wheel lockup, bleed some air into the rear brake system. It sounds totally crazy but in a panic situation where your instintic is to mash the rear brake pedal you’ll still get good bite but the chance of a lockup is far less.
I ride a much heavier bike than your SV and I about have to stand on the rear brake pedal to even approach a lockup, but simulating a panic stop and mashing down on the rear brake while progressively adding more front brake really helps keep things under control.
Second, replace the front stock rubber brake hoses with braided stainless lines (if you haven’t done so already). Yes they are expensive but worth every penny. Brake feel goes up ten fold, while fade due to expanding rubber lines is all but eliminated. You’ll discover all you’ll need for any braking situation is two fingers.
Keep up the excellent posting on your blog.
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